Election 2018: Baldwin, Vukmir Vie for U.S. Senate

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (I)

Baldwin, 56, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012, defeating former Republican governor Tommy Thompson. Previous to that she had served in the Wisconsin Assembly since 1993. Prior to that she had been a lawyer in private practice, although in 1986 she was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors at the age of 24, a position she held until 1994.

When elected to the Wisconsin Assembly, she became the first openly lesbian member of the Assembly and one of a very few openly gay politicians in the country. She also became the first openly gay member of the Senate.

She serves on the Committee on Appropriations and five of its subcommittees; the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and five of its subcommittees; and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and two of its subcommittees.

She has described herself as a Progressive in the mold of Robert M. LaFollette.

It has been pointed out that no two U.S. Senators from the same state vote as differently as Baldwin and her Republican Senate colleague Ron Johnson.

Leah Vukmir

Vukmir, 60, is a registered nurse who was elected to represent Wisconsin’s 5th Senate District in 2010. Previous to that she had served in the state Assembly since 2002, replacing Scott Walker, who left the Assembly after being elected Milwaukee County executive in a special election. She is on the board of directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative consortium that pushes the conservative agenda in state legislatures throughout the country. She was successfully sued in 2013 for an open records violation related to her ALEC association. While claiming that she could not be sued while in office, the lawsuit was settled with a $15,000 payment by Wisconsin taxpayers.